Thank You
by unlikelyRLshipper
Summary: D/L fluffy future fic, but contains absolutely NO spoilers for the upcoming season. Danny has a surprise for Lindsay. Title and fic inspired by Johnny Reid's song of the same name, but it's not a songifc.


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I'm back again, and I hope you're not sick of me yet, because I got another story I'm posting in a couple of days!!! As always, I want to start off by thanking those who read my last story, and those who reviewed. I've said this before, and I'll probably say it periodically, but I'm totally OK with those who just read my stories. I tend to just read too, though I'm trying to fix that, but I really don't mind if you just read - I started writing just for me, and then I decided to post here. The fact that people even glance at the things that popped into my head is so much already!!!!

Sorry about the long digression there, I'll get back on task now: This is a future fic, but doesn't deal with any of the spoilers for season 6. It's just a piece of D/L fluff - is there any better kind, I ask you?

I still own nothing, not CSI:NY or the song which inspired this piece, which belongs to Johnny Reid. All mistakes are mine though (not that I really want to own them)

Enjoy!!

**Thank You**

_Thank you_

_Thank you for the life you've given me_

_Thank you_

_For sharing all your love and all your dreams_

_Thank you_

_For every tear of happiness I've cried_

_Thank you_

_For laying down beside me here tonight _

_~Thank You, by Johnny Reid_

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Danny Messer was excited that he was getting off work before his wife Lindsay because it would give him the time he needed to set his plan into motion. The minute his shift ended, he rushed down to the daycare to spring Lucy, now nearly 10-months old, from her incarceration. Lucy, who had no idea what her father was planning, was just happy to see her favourite playmate.

By the time the pair finally made it back home, Danny had two hours left to organize his surprise, and he hoped that Lucy was in a cooperating mood because if she wasn't, he might not be able to pull it all off. He began preparing his surprise meal while at the same time feeding Lucy her dinner in her highchair, pulled close to the counter where he was working. Though she normally disliked being confined in the highchair, Danny's animated narration of everything he was doing and what he had planned for Lindsay had Lucy thoroughly distracted.

As the sauce and noodles cooked, Danny set Lucy on the floor in the living room and watched as she crawled around, still amazed that the little crawling machine before him, who was also mastering pulling herself up and looked ready to walk at any minute, was his and Lindsay's daughter. When the timer went off, he hurried to assemble the meal, put it into the oven to bake, and set two places at the table before the fussing Lucy could get too upset at being neglected.

He took Lucy for her bath and let her splash around for a while longer than usual so that she would hopefully be tired enough to sleep soundly through the night. Lately, for whatever reason, Lucy had been waking up in the middle of the night, looking for nothing more than some attention. They had tried to simply ignore her, but the hours-long crying fit showed them that that wouldn't work. Instead, they had discovered that if someone rocked with her and just talked to her about anything (sports stats, steak sides, the difference between DNA and RNA, etc.) she would eventually go back to sleep. When he finally pulled her from the tub, Danny was glad that he had already decided to change his shirt, because he was soaked.

Back in dry clothes once more, Danny in a black button down (Lindsay's new favourite shirt) and Lucy in her pyjamas, he sat them down on the couch and read her a bedtime story, expecting Lindsay to come home in about ten minutes.

Just before 7pm, Lindsay walked into the apartment, exhausted after her long and busy shift, but happy to be greeted by the great smell from the kitchen, the look of pure love in her husband's eyes and the happy squeal coming from her daughter, which didn't cease until Lindsay picked Lucy up from Danny's arms. She leaned forward to brush her lips with Danny's before she joined him on the couch and babbled away with the little girl.

Danny watched the interaction between his two girls with a content smile before he saw Lucy beginning to fade. Waiting for Lindsay to say goodnight, he took Lucy from her arms and stood. Lindsay looked ready to follow him, but instead Danny suggested that she go change into some more comfortable clothes. She nodded, but before she could get too far, Danny pulled her into a one-armed hug, kissed her and whispered into her ear

"Happy anniversary babe."

She watched him disappear into Lucy's bedroom, now understanding why he had seemed so bouncy all day long. She didn't think that he had not forgotten their first anniversary, but she hadn't guessed that he'd been planning a little surprise for her.

She quickly changed into a pair of comfy jeans, deciding that her sweater was comfortable enough and headed straight for the nursery where she found Danny standing over the crib watching Lucy sleep. Lindsay came up behind him and hugged his waist. Quickly turning in her embrace, he glanced down at her, but didn't say anything.

With absolutely no hint of teasing in her voice, she asked "What did you cook for me?" Danny laughed and ignored her question, choosing to instead hoist her into his arms with no warning and carry her all the way to the table, plopping the giggling Lindsay down on one of the chairs. He scurried off into the kitchen and emerged minutes later with 2 plates of his mother's lasagna, arguably her favourite dish that he cooked.

When he sat down, she leaned over to kiss him soundly in thanks before digging in. She hadn't eaten anything besides a stale muffin and an apple (both from the break room) on her shift, so she really preferred not to talk at the moment. Danny laughed at her eagerness, but understood the feeling, so he started to eat too.

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As their anniversary approached, he had hoped that they would be able to celebrate their first in a big way, but he knew it would be difficult with an infant and their demanding jobs. Still, he had been disappointed to see that they both had to work on their anniversary and early the next day too, so any evening plans would be impossible as well. Instead, Danny hoped that they could do something on their next day off while Lucy stayed for a couple of hours with his mom or whoever was available.

He came up with the plan for just a small dinner at home several days ago so that their actual anniversary would not go uncelebrated, but he really wanted it to be a surprise for Lindsay. That morning, he got ready as usual and made no indication that he even remembered what day it was when he said goodbye to her. All day when he ran into her he pretended like it was just a normal day, but he'd been bursting all day to tell her everything his heart wanted her to hear.

As they worked together to clean all the dishes, he couldn't wait any longer.

After putting away the last dried dish, he came up behind Lindsay, turned her to face him and lifted her up onto the counter as he came to stand between her legs, making them much closer to the same eye level. Lindsay tried to ask him what he was doing, but he quickly silenced her with a searing kiss. When she tried to ask him again, he kissed her into silence a second time. As they pulled apart this time, Lindsay waited for Danny to do or say whatever was on his mind.

"Lindsay, I wanna thank you for deciding to marry me one year ago today, especially since it was so unexpected. I know our relationship hasn't always been the easiest, and I don't think I will ever completely forgive myself for what I put you through after Ruben's death…" Lindsay started to protest with a knowing look, but Danny silenced her with a finger over her mouth. "…but now I realize that we needed to go through all of it, all the way back to the beginning, to get where we are now. Sure, it could've been easier, but that could've led us down another path – and there's no way in hell I'd either risk you or Lucy and what we have now to see if we coulda had a little less pain. I guess what I'm really trying to say is I'm trying to let go of some of the guilt, just like you've been telling me to do for a while now."

Lindsay smiled and stroked his cheek. "Danny, I should be thanking you for asking me to marry you a second time. I know it took a lot for you to put yourself out there a second time, especially with how badly you took my first answer. I thought I was gonna have to beg you to marry me, because I didn't think that you really understood that the 'no' was really a 'not now' until we were standing inside city hall a year ago. Even through everything that we both put each other through over the years, I knew that being with you was a given – a long-term given – so when you asked me a second time, there was no way I was gonna let you get away from me. This past year has had its ups and downs, but we made it through. We made a commitment to each other for better and for worse, and neither of us takes that lightly. I wouldn't trade what we have now for anything either; it's you and me cowboy 'til the end!"

Lindsay giggled and leaned forward to kiss Danny. When they broke apart, he began to speak again.

"I also wanna thank you for our daughter. When you first told me that you were pregnant, I was freaking the hell out – we both were. Neither of us had any idea what was coming next, but I knew I wasn't gonna walk out on you. I soon found myself unable and unwilling to stop looking at that first ultrasound picture because every time I did this warm feeling rushed through my body and I didn't want it to go away.

"We worked some stuff out and then we were finally just feeling excited. I managed to wrap my head around the fact that I was gonna be a dad, and then the fear set in. I didn't want to disappoint you or the baby, but me being me I didn't see how I could do anything else. That was until Mac set me straight a couple of days before your trip back to Montana. He said that I could either live in fear or do something about it – and you know what that led to." Lindsay started giggling again.

"After you were in Montana, I got it into my head that we were having a boy – not that I cared whether our baby was a boy or a girl, but because I knew I could handle having a son no problem. Then, of course, your karma-like text message bit me in the ass with GIRL and I got scared again. That disappeared when I picked you up at the airport. There you were, as big as a house," Lindsay playfully punched him for the wiseass remark, "but more beautiful than ever and the only thing I could think about was 'my 2 beautiful girls' and I was at ease.

"That lasted until I found out your water broke at the lab and Adam was the only person available to drive you to the hospital. Knowing we were only hours away from meeting our daughter, all kinds of crazy ideas overtook my head: I thought that you were secretly having twins, then I thought I was gonna have a heart attack in the middle of the maternity ward." Lindsay couldn't help but laugh a little bit. "I know it's ridiculous, but it made sense in that moment. When you gave birth to our daughter, everything else seemed to fall away and I couldn't remember what my life had been like without the two of you in it.

"I never used to really think about all this kinda stuff, marriage and kids, but the day you came into my life, it's like you showed me this whole other life that I could have, with you, and for that I will be eternally grateful to you. Thank you for being willing to share your life with me and allowing me to be the luckiest man in the world because I get to wake up next to you every morning. I love you with all my heart, Lindsay, and I know this will be the first of many anniversaries we'll share together."

Danny concluded his speech by sharing a tender kiss with his wife, wiping her tears away while leaving his own wet eyes alone.

"Wow, way to make anything and everything I say now look inadequate by comparison, why don't you?" Lindsay pouted at him, but she knew that he understood that she was only joking. She was well aware that Danny would be affected just as much by what she said to him as she was by his words.

"I was terrified when I found out that I was pregnant, not because of the baby but because we were so far from being in a good place at the time. When I told you, a part of me had become so convinced that you were gonna walk away – hence why I lashed out at you – but deep down I knew the truth was that you weren't that kind of guy. At the time, it seemed so unlikely that we could have a happy ending, so I was weary of hoping that we could somehow achieve just that in case it didn't happen. We finally talked and discovered that neither of us was walking away, so we focused on making us work. We took baby steps until we were back on solid footing – and you know what that led to." Danny laughed at her 'recycling' of his phrase.

"When I came back from Montana, I felt like I was home again. I saw you standing there, a cocky grin on your face but your eyes were so full of excitement and love that it took my breath away. Those two weeks we spent together during your impromptu two week 'vacation' were some of the best days I've ever had and all we did was hang out together with nothing to distract us.

"The fear for me didn't really kick in until I was on the way to the hospital. I didn't know if you were gonna make it on time, but then I saw you running down the hall and something else overtook me. Stella thought I sounded like a crazy woman because I hadn't even given birth yet and I was already worried about being a mom, creating the most outlandish scenarios of future outbursts from our teenage daughter.

"Even though I knew Stella was right, I couldn't stop freaking out until Lucy was born. When I held our little girl for the first time, all that I could hear were your words of love and encouragement in my ear and I knew in that instant that I could handle being a mom because you were there. You were by my side the entire time, and I knew that with you at my side, I couldn't fail – you wouldn't let me.

"After we first met, I too started seeing a possible future for myself, one where I was happy and had everything I always wanted, and it was always with you. But, I was afraid to take that leap because I'd become accustomed to pain and hurt, not happiness. In our time together, you've shown me that I deserve to be happy too because that's how I can best honour the memories of my friends. This is my chance at true happiness and I'm taking it, and I have you to thank for all of it. I don't ever want to take what we have for granted. My love for you knows no bounds, Danny, and that will never change. Happy anniversary."

Danny quickly swiped at his wet cheeks with the back of one of his hands as Lindsay did the same.

"When the hell did we turn into such saps?"

They both laughed at the comment as Lindsay leaned in to rest her forehead on Danny's.

"Probably when we first met, but it only became noticeable when we got married and had a kid two months later. Anyways, who cares, that's what they make tissues for." They both laughed again, until Lindsay let out a massive yawn directly in Danny's face.

"OK, we're going to bed."

"Danny, it's our first anniversary and you want to go to sleep before 9pm?!"

"We should celebrate our love everyday, not just on specific days." The smartass look on Danny's face caused Lindsay to smack him upside the head.

"You are _so_ full of crap sometimes Messer – and before you can even say it – but yes, I still love you anyways." He smiled. He never got tired of hearing her say that she loved him and he knew he never would.

"Look, you're obviously tired, I'm kinda tired too, we both gotta work early tomorrow, and we haven't been able to count on Lucy sleeping through the night lately, so I say we take the sleep while we can." With a devilish look, he continued. "Besides, you never know, if we go to sleep now, we could always do some more 'celebrating' later on." Normally, Lindsay would smack him for such blatant innuendo, but she liked the idea as much as he did.

With one last kiss, Danny lifted Lindsay off the counter and put her back on the floor beside him. Taking her hand in his, they walked to their bedroom, both thinking that their small, low-key dinner and conversation in the kitchen was the perfect ending to their first year of marriage.

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**Thanks for reading!!**

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